'Captive of the crazy': Trump's dubious primary picks add to GOP's midterm burden

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Episode: 'Captive of the crazy': Trump's dubious primary picks add to GOP's midterm burden
Date: May 27, 2026
Host: Jen Psaki (MS NOW)

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Overview of the Episode

This episode dives deep into the fallout from the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff, a pivotal moment driven by Donald Trump's late-stage endorsement of Ken Paxton over sitting Senator John Cornyn. The discussion unfolds on what Paxton’s surprise victory means for the GOP, the risks and repercussions of Trump's continued influence on Republican primaries, the opportunity it presents Democrats in Texas, and broader national implications for both Senate control and party dynamics. Jen is joined by a lineup of political insiders and experts, including Ali Velshi, Chuck Rocha, Jim Messina, Congressman Greg Casar, and Senator Cory Booker.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Texas GOP Primary Shockwave

• Trump’s Role and Endorsement

  • Trump’s delayed endorsement of Ken Paxton propelled the embattled and scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General to a landslide victory over Senator Cornyn.
  • This win is seen as emblematic of Trump’s enduring—yet divisive—influence over GOP primaries, often at tremendous cost to party unity and finances.
  • “Ken Paxton is a deeply flawed and, shall we say, incredibly ethically challenged candidate...in so many ways, he’s kind of a mirror image of Trump himself.” (Jen Psaki, 01:47)

• Financial and Electoral Fallout

  • The Texas primary alone cost the GOP $128 million, with $92 million spent defending Cornyn.
  • Repeated Trump-fueled infighting in other states (e.g., Kentucky, Indiana) has drained substantial resources, jeopardizing vulnerable seats elsewhere.

Data Breakdown with Ali Velshi

• Paxton’s Landslide

  • With 49% of votes in, Paxton held 62.5% and a 204,000 vote lead—an insurmountable margin, sweeping Trump-aligned and MAGA voters.
  • Former Cornyn strongholds barely held, signaling GOP base disaffection with establishment figures.

• Implications for November

  • Paxton’s win throws Texas into serious play for Democrats, with the possibility of flipping the seat for the first time since the late '80s.

  • Paxton may either energize MAGA turnout or suppress traditional conservative participation.

  • “The complexity of having Ken Paxton as the Republican candidate—does he motivate MAGA or have traditional conservative Republicans sit on their hands?” (Ali Velshi, 08:09)

Strategic Analysis: Chuck Rocha & Jim Messina

• Texas Political Anxiety

  • Voters, especially Latinos, express deep “sick and tired” fatigue with Texas GOP dominance and Paxton’s brand of politics.

  • Latinos, a swing demographic, have started shifting back to Democrats—a reversal from prior rightward trends.

  • “There’s this tension of their lives not getting better...this anxiety I’ve never really seen.” (Chuck Rocha, 11:11)

• Risks for Democrats

  • While Paxton is easier for Democrats to campaign against, complacency could be fatal. Paxton’s past statewide wins show the GOP still wields formidable strength.
  • “Ken Paxton has won several statewide elections...the whole theory 'we’re definitely going to win' because Paxton’s on the ballot—I don’t think that’s true.” (Jim Messina, 15:20)

• Talarico’s Unique Strategy

  • Democrat James Talarico’s campaign aims to transcend left-right divides, emphasizing inclusivity, economic relief, and moral leadership.
  • “Talarico shows up and starts quoting the Bible. When’s the last time you saw a Democrat do that?...It’s about top versus bottom, not left versus right.” (Chuck Rocha, 16:32)

Paxton’s Baggage: Scandals Highlighted

• Ethical and Legal Troubles

  • Paxton’s history includes two alleged affairs, a fraud indictment, delayed legal proceedings, whistleblower retaliation, impeachment, and questionable personal wealth accrual.

  • Despite $92 million spent on attack ads, none have prevented his ascent—raising doubts about their electoral effectiveness.

  • “Calling Ken Paxton just a crook is like calling Texas summers a little bit warm. I mean, the guy makes Richard Nixon look like a boy Scout.” (Rep. Greg Casar, 29:50)

• Impact of Scandals

  • Key question: will the weight of Paxton’s scandals turn off enough GOP or independent voters to open a path for Talarico?

Down-ballot and Generational Shifts

• Other Races and Demographic Change
  • Ali Velshi details generational clashes in key House races (e.g., Christian Menifee, age 38, defeating Al Green, age 78, in TX-18).
  • Crypto, AI, and external money are increasingly shaping campaign landscapes.

The YOLO Caucus and Republican Dissent

• Cornyn Joins the “YOLO Caucus”

  • “YOLO caucus” refers to ousted or retiring establishment Republicans now unshackled from MAGA pressure, freer to oppose Trump in Congress (e.g., Cassidy, Tillis, Massie).

• Inside Congressional Resistance

  • Senator Cory Booker highlights mounting bipartisan resistance to Trump’s policies, especially regarding war powers and Trump’s “corruption and kleptocracy.”
  • “Many of us have private conversations with folks who will express their disdain, their outrage in private, but do nothing in public.” (Cory Booker, 41:00)
  • Booker and Casar frame corruption—both in Trump and the broader system—as a core 2026 election theme.

Redistricting and Good News

• Court Victories in South Carolina, Alabama
  • Blocking of Republicans’ racially gerrymandered redistricting plans fuels increased Democratic early turnout.
  • “What most important thing...is they are setting records that have never seen before, even in presidential elections, for early vote turnout.” (Rep. Clyburn, via Cory Booker, 45:46)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:47 | Jen Psaki | "Ken Paxton is a deeply flawed and, shall we say, incredibly ethically challenged candidate...in so many ways, he’s kind of a mirror image of Trump himself." | | 05:59 | Ali Velshi | “Ken Paxton will be on defense the whole time between now and November. It'll take hundreds of millions...Ken Paxton will be an albatross. He could well lose.” | | 10:45 | Chuck Rocha | “Was it crazy and corrupt or did they support old and out of touch? They went with crazy and corrupt and God bless them because a lot of Texans aren’t down with crazy and corrupt.” | | 11:51 | Jim Messina | “Donald Trump is clearly in charge of the modern Republican Party, and he gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it in the primary. The problem is...he continues to nominate the worst candidates.” | | 13:20 | Chuck Rocha | “Our polling showed we could have beat either one of them...Latino voters in Texas have been moving back over 20 points [to Democrats].” | | 16:32 | Chuck Rocha | “Talarico shows up and starts quoting the Bible. When's the last time you saw a Democrat do that?...it's about bringing everybody together, not left versus right but top versus bottom.” | | 18:10 | Jim Messina | “They are now captive of the crazy. And the crazy is the President. President of the United States.” | | 29:50 | Rep. Casar | “Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America. Calling Ken Paxton just a crook is like calling Texas summers a little bit warm. The guy makes Richard Nixon look like a boy Scout.” | | 41:00 | Cory Booker | “Many of us have private conversations with folks who will express their disdain, their outrage in private, but do nothing in public. And so what I’m hoping is...liberated person[s] to speak their mind, to tell the truth of what they think about Donald Trump and his hurting of the American people.” | | 43:56 | Cory Booker | “People are hurting...then they look up and see the President of the United States grifting, not governing, but being the biggest kleptocrat we have ever seen. It is deeply, penetratingly offensive.” |

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Key Timestamps & Segments

• Texas GOP Senate Primary Call & Fallout — [00:59–07:00]
• Ali Velshi Election Analysis — [07:04–09:44]
• Strategist Panel: Rocha and Messina on Democratic Strategy — [10:45–18:10]
• Spotlight: Latino Voters and Talarico — [13:20–14:45, 20:31]
• Deep Dive: Paxton’s Scandals — [24:41–29:20]
• Rep. Greg Casar's Response and Democratic Opportunities — [29:50–33:40]
• Changing Party Dynamics and The YOLO Caucus — [38:42–42:24]
• Sen. Cory Booker on Trump, Corruption & Redistricting — [42:06–46:54]
• Election data breakdown on House Primaries — [36:39–38:41]

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Tone and Language

The tone is sharp, combative, and often humorous, reflecting Jen Psaki’s on-air persona and the panel’s familiarity with political inside baseball. The language balances deep policy insight with colloquial zingers (“YOLO caucus”, “captive of the crazy”, “dumpster fire on the air”).

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Conclusion

This episode dissected the political earthquake of Ken Paxton’s Texas Republican Senate primary victory, highlighting its implications for party finances, down-ballot races, and the national map for the 2026 midterms. With Trump’s picks increasingly dragging down the GOP and creating ripe opportunities for Democrats—particularly if cross-pressured groups like Latinos continue drifting left—the show concluded that November’s Senate races are far more competitive than previously thought, but warned that victory is anything but assured.

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For listeners seeking to understand the stakes, strategies, and personalities dominating this critical election cycle, this episode serves as a must-listen primer on Texas and the broader national political landscape.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Jen Psaki]

Chris is right, because we are ready to report a call in the biggest race of the night. It is just past nine o' clock on the east coast on this election night. Polls have just closed in the great state of Texas and the Associated Press is ready to project that Trump backed challenger Ken Paxton has defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in what appears to be an absolute blowout. I mean, just look at that margin on your screen right now. With 48% of the vote counted, Paxton leads Cornyn by about 24.5points. And I just want to note here, John Cornyn is a leader in the Senate. In the Republican Senate, Ken Paxton is. When we will get into all of this, he has just defeated a leader in the Republican Senate who has basically been with Trump all along. But what this all means is that Ken Paxton will now go on to face off this November against Democratic nominee James Talarico. It's going to be quite a race. And James Talarico, for his part, he's expected to weigh in on tonight's results and the race ahead very shortly. And he's also going to be joining my colleague Lawrence o' Donnell live in the next hour. That will be a must watch, of course. Now, of course, Talarico secured his nomination all the way back in early March and he has been basically working to consolidate Democratic support ever since. All while Paxton and Cornyn have been absolutely bludgeoning each other across the airwaves. I mean, I cannot, I've worked in politics for a very long time. I cannot remember a primary race in recent history that was a big dumpster fire on the air and otherwise than this one. And while all of that was going on, Trump waited until late last week before deciding to endorse Ken Paxton. Real profile encourage there. Now, Ken Paxton is a deeply flawed and, shall we say, incredibly ethically challenged candidate. And honestly, that shouldn't have been a surprise, the endorsement. That is because after all of Paxton's many scandals, which I would say run the gamut from adultery to corruption allegations he denies to being impeached by a Republican House before he was acquitted largely along party lines, I mean, does that all sound familiar to you? It should. I mean, in so many ways, he's kind of a mirror image of Trump himself. And I'm going to dig into. There's so much more, I just really skimmed the surface there of Ken Paxton. There's a lot more to say. I'm going to dig into all of Ken Paxton's many misdeeds later on this hour because that requires a bigger chunk of time and we're gonna, we're gonna give it a bigger chunk of time. But all of that baggage is part of the reason Senate Republicans spent months trying to get Trump to throw his weight behind John Cornyn, and why Trump's decision to endorse Paxton has sparked considerable backlash among members of his own party. Now, Cornyn is now the latest in a series of Republican lawmakers who have been undermined by Trump. And now those Republicans, honestly, they have zero reason to go along with Trump's agenda as they finish out their terms in Congress. We're gonna talk more about that growing YOLO caucus, as we call it, and what it means for Trump's ambitions and really, more importantly, what Democrats in the minority may actually be able to get done later in the show. But these Trump backed primary fights are costing the party, the Republican Party. That is a whole lot more than just lot of headaches and lots of headaches and party unity, which is certainly divided. They're also costing Republicans a boatload of money. I mean, an exorbitant amount of money. In Indiana, Trump challenged a group of Republican state senators, remember this, who opposed his redistricting agenda. And that Republican unrepublican battle cost his party $13.5 million in the process. Then in Kentucky, Trump backed a primary challenge to Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, which cost his party another $32 million, making it the most expensive House primary in history. And because everything is, well, bigger in Texas, the primary between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton has now cost Republicans a whopping $128 million, that is before they even get to the general election. Everyone. And nearly $92 million of that was being spent to defend John Cornyn's seat. So that's nearly $100 million that could have gone to supporting other embattled incumbents like, say, Susan Collins in Maine or John Husted in Ohio or Dan Sullivan in Alaska. All are in who the the races of their lives right now. Instead, that money was spent running attack ads against a candidate who Trump just decided to endorse anyway. And now that Paxton is projected to be the nominee, Republicans are probably going to have to spend a whole lot more money to try to hold on to this seat. Just listen to the way John Cornyn made his final pitch to voters this morning on Fox News.

[Ali Velshi]

Ken Paxton will be on defense the whole time between now and November. If he were is the nominee, it'll take hundreds of millions of dollars to try to save him, and it's likely not to be successful. Ken Paxton will be an albatross. He could well lose. But even if he doesn't lose, he will win by such a razor thin margin that it's likely to have a negative drag on the downbel races in Texas.

[Jen Psaki]

Look, I can be surprised. Politics is surprising. I don't think that guy is joining Ken Paxton on the campaign trail tomorrow. And he just described Ken Paxton as an albatross. John Cornyn may not be wrong. And yet Texas Republicans have just followed Trump's lead and embraced a candidate who could very well cost them control of the Senate in November. This could vary. This race could, could swing the Senate. All right, let's get right to Ms. Now, chief data reporter Ali Velshi, who is at the big board for us. Okay, Ali, you've been watching this. I've been watching you. I've been listening to you. You've been in all of the counties. Tell us how Ken Paxton won this race. What stuck out to you?

[Ali Velshi]

This is remarkable. So, as you said, the call just came in as you came on the air, because there are two counties in western Texas that are in the central time zone. So no matter what you thought was happening in this race, it wasn't going to get called until 9 o' clock a minute. 9 o' clock came on, you came on the air and it was called For Ken Paxton, 62.5% of the vote, a 204,000 vote lead with only 49% of the vote in. And that's because there's nowhere for Ken Pax for John Cornyn to make this up anywhere in the state, places that he won by a lot the last time around. Place like Dallas county, for instance, 50% of the vote in. He won it handily in the March 3rd primary. Now it's 50.7 to 49.3. The other thing to think about when you're looking at this race is go back to March where the primary was a three way primary. John Cornyn won that with 42% of the vote. But it's a runoff state. So you have to get 50% of the vote. If you add up the 40 and a half that Paxton got with the 13 and a half that Wesley Hunt got, that was 53 and a half percent to 42. The margin tonight is so much bigger than that. So Ken Paxton got all of the Wesley Hunt very MAGA congressman type of votes. He got his own votes. People either didn't show up for Cornyn or I can't imagine they changed their votes because these people really don't like each other. As you said, this was a very heated race. Bottom line is what Democrats are looking at right now is the complexity of having Ken Paxton. You're gonna talk about him a lot in your show tonight. The complexity of having him as the Republican candidate. Does he motivate a lot of MAGA people or does he have a whole lot of traditional Texas conservative Republicans sit on their hands and not go out and vote because he's the Republican candidate? There are a lot of other things at play, including the money that's been spent, including the effect that Talarico has had on Hispanic and Latino candidates who have started to swing back toward the Democr. So a lot going on. But you said it very well in that this idea of Texas electing a statewide Democrat, which has not happened for a very long time. They haven't had one since 1992. I think 1988 was the last time there was an election of a statewide Democratic candidate. This is now becoming real. And remember, it was, it felt real in 2018 with Beto O' Rourke and Ted Cruz. Beto O' Rourke running a very good campaign, very good candidate against a very unpopular Ted Cruz and he still lost by three points. This is looking like there may be a difference flavor to this. So James Talarico and the Democratic Party looking at this result tonight, feeling pretty good about it. Donald Trump's looking at this result and feeling pretty good about it too. It's another Trump person who he's put in and another Trump critic or somebody who's not always on board who he's thrown out of office tonight.

[Jen Psaki]

Jen, we're gonna come back to you in the show. Ali, I'm about to talk to one of Talarico's advisors and also Jim Messina who ran Barack Obama's successful campaign. Cuz there are a couple big questions here which I'm gonna get into with them. One is to do some of the more traditional conservatives and we've seen this in some polls who they didn't like. Penn Paxton. Does that stick? Are they a target? Also independents and there are a lot of them in Texas. Really interesting. We're gonna come back to you. Thank you as always for being there and digging into all the data. Okay, now let's turn to the two people that I have been dying to talk to. I just mentioned them. Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha is a senior advisor for the Democrat in this race, James Talarico. Big night for him too. And Jim Messina is the former campaign manager for President Barack Obama. O okay. There is so many things to ask you both about. Chuck, I want to start with you and we're going to dig into the Talarico strategy moving forward and all of that. But you know Texas, when you look at what just happened in this race, what do you think it means?

[Chuck Rocha]

Well, tonight Texas Republicans had a choice in this runoff. Was it crazy and corrupt or did they support old and out of touch? And they went with crazy and corrupt and God bless them because a lot of Texans aren't down with crazy and corrupt. And I think folks like me who've been around Texas their entire lives, Republicans have had total control, Jen. I mean total control of Texas for 31 years. And as I travel around Texas and do focus groups in Brownsville or up in Amarillo, they all keep telling me the same thing is they're aggravated and there's this tension of their lives not getting better. Ali just talked about what's the difference between this election and 2018 up and beyond Talarico's polling, much better than Beto ever did. Is this anxiety that I've never really seen in the electorate of folks just being sick and tired. God bless them of being sick and tired.

[Jen Psaki]

Yeah. Look, in 2018 we thought that Trump was a passing moment and now it feels far more existential. I mean, that's one thing. Okay, we're gonna keep talking about the Salarico strategy. But Jim, what about you? What are these? I mean, this was an absolute shellacking blowout. I don't know what you wanna call it. What do you think it means?

[Jim Messina]

Well, it Means that Donald Trump is clearly in charge of the modern Republican Party, and he gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it in the primary. The problem is that we're about to go into a general election season and he continues to nominated the worst candidates. You talked about this earlier. They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to prop up Trump's slate of diluted Republicans here. And the question is, in the general, they will need every single dollar they can get their hands on. You know, and Jen, you talked about the turnout, and I think it's really interesting in the elections. We've seen over 100 elections since Trump came in office. Democrats are overperforming by about 10 points. But when you look at why, it is because Republicans are not turning out in massive numbers. Their people aren't angry, as Chuck was saying, they're getting kind of everything they want. And that's with normal Republicans. You put a guy like Ken Paxton at the top of the ticket, it's not that suddenly a bunch of Republicans may vote Democratic. Maybe that happens. But probably what happens is that a whole bunch of people just don't vote. And we'll take it whatever we can get it. Because when you try to get to 50%, you'll take it any way you can get it.

[Jen Psaki]

That's true. You just need more votes than the other person. That's how elections work. Chuck, there is this broad perception. You sort of hear this. I feel like friends of mine will say this to me who are paying attention to this, that Ken Paxton was an easier Democrat for James Talarico to beat. Is that true, in your view?

[Chuck Rocha]

Our polling showed that we could have beat either one of them. I think it's different to Jim's point of the electorate in the general election. And that's what I want to talk about. You said, how does he win? Well, there's a couple things going on in Texas that's really different than what we've seen in the last few of the election cycles. One is you saw this dramatic move to the right over the last few cycles with Latino voters that I know very well. What we seen in the primary was them dramatically moving back because guess what? They don't like their aunts and uncles picked up by us. They don't like. The gas is $4 a gallon. So if Latinos are moving back, Jim said the electorate was moving back 10 points, which is right. But Latino voters in Texas have been moving back over 20 points. And if that stays true for the general election, and you couple a bunch of just a Few disenfranchised, corny voters. That's the recip for Texas to truly turn blue.

[Jen Psaki]

Yet the polling has showed that. Okay, I want to talk about that more. But like, I want to go back to Jim just for a moment, because one of the things we all know from working on campaigns is you got to be clear eyed too about your opponent and their capabilities, as much as they may seem crazy. And Ken Paxton is perhaps the most corrupt person on the ballot this year. I think he safely is. But what do you think he is connected clearly with the Republican base in Texas, especially with Trump voters. He has Trump's endorsement. This seat again could swing control, control of the Senate. What do you think this is excitement. Everybody's looking at him and they think, wow, he's crazy. But what do Democrats have to be clear eyed about here?

[Jim Messina]

That it's not about them, it's not about Ken Paxton. It's about these voters in Texas and their lives and their hopes and their dreams. You got to have a proactive message that excites people that says you get it and that you're going to make their lives better. People are struggling out there and they don't want to hear a bunch of negative attack ads. They want very clear ideas on how to make gas prices cheaper, grocery prices cheaper, and get along. And I think the problem Democrats got into, Jen, and you and I have talked about this a bunch, is we just thought we could hammer Donald Trump for three election cycles. We thought it was just enough to kind of demagogue him. And that's just not where people are. Ken Paxton has won several statewide elections in Texas and they weren't close. So this whole theory, the Democrats are saying, oh my God, we're definitely going to win because Paxton's on the ballot. I don't think that's true. I think we're going to have to win a very tough election in a state we haven't won since my senior year in college. So let's be very clear on how hard this is, Jen. Sadly, I'm now a member of the aarp.

[Jen Psaki]

Oh, that's. That's all right. You're owning it. I like to hear it. Okay, took. I've had James Hillary go on several times and he does not sound like a traditional politician. He is certainly not somebody who spends all of his time attacking his opponent. And he'll probably, he'll have to do that, of course, to some degree here, as he has done. But what is the, the strategy here to Jim's point, in terms of the balance between you have this deeply flawed candidate who you're running against. There's gonna be a lot of pressure for him to go absolutely nuclear on Ken Paxton and also at the same time talk about continue to introduce himself to voters in Texas and tell them what he's gonna do in the Senate. What should people expect about what that balance is for him?

[Chuck Rocha]

Look, when you have a winning system, you don't break that system. And James Talarico was never, quote, unquote, supposed to win the primary against the most popular Democratic polit arguably in the state of Texas. And what he talked about, which is really smart and what we haven't seen in Texas is a long time, which is about bringing everybody together. If you're a Republican, you're welcome over here. If you're a lefty Democrat, you're welcome over here. If you're in the middle, you're welcome over here. However you identify yourself, this campaign is about welcoming you in and not about left versus right, but top versus bottom. That's where the anxiety is. And I think that's why a uniquely qualified candidate like Talarico, who's looking for things that bring us together and not the things that tear us apart, which is really different. Me and Jim run a lot of campaigns. A lot of people have talked about doing that, but they just scorch earth like everybody else. Talarico shows up and starts quoting the Bible. When's the last time you saw a Democrat do that? Just as a starting point. That's what makes him very different. He's super connected to the community and all communities, and he's going to be at all the places all the time. That's what's going to make this really different.

[Jen Psaki]

Jim, let's take a big picture here for a moment because I think a couple, and we've talked about this before, but a couple months ago, I don't. I think most of us wouldn't have said that Democrats could win to Senate back if we were being totally honest. It feels very viable here. I can't believe the amount of money that was spent. I mean, $128 million on this race on the Republican side. Talk about the impact of that both when you're talking to donors who may not want to spend more money when there are other races that could have been spent on, but it should be spent on. What's the impact of that and how do you see kind of the likelihood at this point of Democrats winning back the Senate Senate?

[Jim Messina]

Boy, you're exactly right, Jen. Six months ago People just said the Senate looked too far and it was important to stay very focused. I heard this a million times. Let's just go win the House. We have to stop Trump. Let's just go win the House. And the truth is, the Senate made their own luck. They got great opposition research. They got Joanie Ernst out of the race in Iowa. Maine has obviously continued to evolve. There is now, you look at the seats and you can have a really clear pathway to 50 and 51. And that's before you get to Texas, if you start putting Texas in play. Ohio, and you know, you know more about Ohio than either two of us. So Jen can give us a little Ohio lecture at the end of this. Why, that's doable. Alaska's doable. I mean, you know, the truth is you want as many shots on goal as you can get. And we now have a bunch of different shots on goal, which makes us start to think, wow, the Senate's really in place. And so if that's true and you're the Republicans, you just can't spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to prop up some of these candidates. Fix it. You can't have Ken Paxton and spend all this money trying to keep him from winning the primary. You can't go after Massie, who's a really big right winger in Kentucky. You're spending money you're desperately going to need in a bunch of these races. And you're doing it just because one guy sits on his True Social at 6 o' clock in the morning and tweeting for the 400 time that day and decides to change the politics of his party. They are now captive of the crazy. And the crazy is the President. President of the United States.

[Jen Psaki]

Don't forget the 13 million spent on legislative races in Indiana, Jim. That was a good use of money on that side. Chuck, I have to ask you, I mean, after the 2024 election, and I'm sure you got so many calls, you talked about this a lot. I know. There was this feeling like Trump had a hold on the Latino vote across the country. It's never going to be won back. I mean, he won 55% of the Latino vote in Texas, which you know well. But for viewers out there, but in a recent poll, and you alluded to this, and this was one conducted by Texas Southern University, likely Latino voters actually prefer Tyler go over both Cornyn and Paxton, more importantly, by four points and eight points for Paxton. Why do you think this very. What. How do you explain that and how do you build on that? And what lessons can be learned for other states?

[Chuck Rocha]

The Latino vote across the country is one of the youngest demographics. Let's start there. We multigenerational households, multilingual. We talk many different languages, Spanish and English and sometimes all at the same time. But what really makes us different is this fluidity of the vote because we haven't been here, quote, literally long enough to be stalwart Democrats or to be stalwart Republicans. So when you have a candidate like Donald Trump who's outside of the system at a time when there's a lot of economic anxiety, you have a portion of that electorate, mainly Latino men who are willing to give that a shot. But now gas hasn't come down. The price of things haven't come down. And then on top of that, you're locking up grandmothers and putting them in ICE facilities. And that's a line too far. So it's the perfect storm to get these folks back. Now, Democrats, the job's not done. You have to do what James Talarico's done, which is show up in those communities and talk about about your philosophies and what you're going to do. And James Talarico has a deep tie to the Latino community teaching school in San Antonio. Being born and raised down in the Valley, when he shows up in these communities, he knows how to speak to these communities with authentic messaging that they understand. That's the perfect storm of why Texas could turn blue, because Latinos are going to overperform and he's going to show up in places that most Democrats are scared to go to.

[Jen Psaki]

Chuck is going to be on with my friend Lawrence o' Donnell in the next hour. So we'll hear all from him. Jim Messina, thank you also for joining me. So appreciate both of you. Okay, results are still coming in out of Texas right now. Senator Cornyn is delivering his concession speech as we speak. We're also keeping a close eye on Ken Paxton's election headquarters. Got a lot of data, data to continue to dig into. And we've got so many Ken Paxton scandals to dig into because he's now the nominee. We're going to talk about all of that. I'm going to give you my take first, but then we're going to talk about all of it with Texas Congressman Greg Kazar when we come. Come back.

[Narrator/Announcer]

America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms, but progress isn't guaranteed. Today. Those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The freedom from Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs with we the people. Visit FFRF us Ms. Now or text Ms. Now to 511-511- text Ms. Now to 51151 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.

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[Chuck Rocha]

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[Jen Psaki]

The biggest endorsement in Texas's Republican Senate runoff today was, of course, Donald Trump's endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Texas's incumbent Senator John Cornyn, which he did just late last week. There we go. But almost as notable as who did endorse Paxton was, who didn't. Now, Ken Paxton's estranged wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, urged Texans to vote for a number of different candidates today, but notably did not mention her ex. So awkward. Now, if you've been paying attention to Senator Cornyn's attack ads against Paxton, and there have been some doozies in there, you might have a clue as to why.

[Greg Kazar]

It's voting time, so let's cut through the bull.

[Chuck Rocha]

Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She's divorcing him on biblical grounds. So now Paxton's wrecking another home, sleeping around with a married mother of six. Seven.

[Jen Psaki]

Now, for months now, voters in Texas have been inundated with one ad after another ad detailing Ken Paxton's two alleged affairs. Affairs that I should say he denies. Now there was even a musical ad, a parody of the B52 song Love Shack. There, there it is, there it is, everyone, with lyrics that laid out the allegations of the affairs. And it's worth repeating. John Cornyn and the super PAC affiliated with his campaign have spent again $92 million on ads in this race. Now, some of those ads were just ads promoting Cornyn, but a ton of them were attack ads against Paxton. Ads that very thoroughly laid out all of Paxton's scandals. And oh boy, are there a lot of them. And boy, did they tell the story of who this guy who is now the nominee actually is. Now, in 2015, just seven months into the job as Texas's Attorney General, Ken Paxton himself was indicted and arrested for securities for fraud charges he denied. He managed to delay that case for nearly a decade and ultimately settle it for just under $300,000. He didn't admit any wrongdoing in the process. In 2020, a group of his top aides, including his first assistant attorney general, sent a letter to the state's Director of Human resources, asking the director to investigate Paxton for alleged bribery and other crimes. Now, a key allegation there was that Paxton has used. Has used his office to help a real estate developer who then hired one of the women Paxton allegedly having an affair with. This is, this is all part of this whole thing, guys. Now, Paxton, of course, denied those allegations too. And all the top aides who blew the whistle on Paxton, they all ended up out of their jobs too. The Republican controlled Texas State House went on to impeach Paxton for that scandal after he tried to stick taxpayers with a multi million dollar bill to settle a lawsuit with the whistleblowers. But Trump came to the rescue, pressuring the state Senate, which ultimately acquitted him. Now, all of that that I just mentioned would be scandalous enough, but somehow, while avoiding accountability for all those scandals and while working in public office with a meager government salary, the Wall Street Journal reports that somehow Paxton has also gotten very rich. A report that a Paxton spokesperson called bogus.

[Chuck Rocha]

While in office, Ken Paxton's net worth increased by up to 7,000% cent.

[Greg Kazar]

How the hell is that even possible? Crooked Ken is now worth up to 12 million bucks.

[Chuck Rocha]

He owns 11 homes, claiming three of them as his primary residence. Well, we know Ken Paxton cheats. Just ask the mother of his children

[Jen Psaki]

if you want to learn about all of Paxton's alleged shady business deals. I've just given you a little flavor there. We don't have time to get into all of them right now. We will have time in the months ahead. But the John Cornyn campaign actually made an entire website about it called crookedken-dot com. Yeah, there you go. Check it out. Now, as if all of those scandals were not enough, and they should be enough, there's also this.

[Greg Kazar]

Why does Ken Paxton go Easy on child predators. A Waco attorney, Adam Hoffman, sexually abused a child for three years, and Paxton gutted the case face, offering him just a slap on the wrist.

[Jen Psaki]

So yesterday, just a day before today's runoff election, that man was let out of jail after serving just 29 days. A plea deal negotiated by Ken Paxton's office had tried to give him just a single day. Now, with that many scandals, and with so many of them already laid out so neatly by John Cornyn, the question now is, how much impact will all of that have in November? Member this weekend, msnow reporter Rosa Flores spoke to a married couple in Texas, one a Republican, one an independent, who had some slightly different opinions on the matter. Your thoughts about Cornyn and Paxton?

[Ali Velshi]

Well, it's not a great choice, either one, really, but I think I. I

[Greg Kazar]

lean towards Paxton for sure.

[Ali Velshi]

He's local.

[Jen Psaki]

Cornyn hasn't always been with the Republicans

[Jim Messina]

the way I would like.

[Ali Velshi]

Uh, but it was a.

[Greg Kazar]

It, you know, it was.

[Ali Velshi]

It was a tough choice, but I

[Greg Kazar]

did vote for Paxton on the runoff.

[Jen Psaki]

What are your thoughts about Paxton? Crook. Yeah, that's it.

[Ali Velshi]

Period.

[Jen Psaki]

He's just a crook. There you go. She's a little shorter to the punch there. Joining me now is Congressman Greg Kazar, a Texas Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Okay. There are so many scandals that Ken Paxton has been a part of. I just gave my take on the guy Texas Republicans sent into the general election tonight. What's your. Yours? Oh, you may be muted there, Congressman. Let's see. There you go. Technology.

[Congressman Greg Kazar]

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America. Calling Ken Paxton just a crook is like calling Texas summers a little bit warm. I mean, the guy makes Richard Nixon look like a boy Scout, and so we cannot allow him to become a United States senator. But we have an incredible candidate for it in Representative James Talarico, who is really bringing people together, taking on corruption, taking on Texas billionaires. And I think he is going to be the kind of candidate that can win over crossover voters, excite voters that oftentimes sit on the sidelines in Texas and finally flip the state.

[Jen Psaki]

This has been. I mean, I've been talking about it through the course of the show. A brutal slugfest between Cornyn and Paxton. I mean, everybody in Texas knows they've been inundated with ads. Do you think? But. But Paxton came through this despite all the ads, despite all the money spent against him. Do you think Cornyn inflicted enough damage to benefit Talarico? Or what should Talarico be doing to kind of run against a guy as corrupt and crooked as Paxton while also telling the story of who he is.

[Congressman Greg Kazar]

Well, look, these may run off elections have a notoriously small number of voters who decide them. And so what James Talarico needs to go and do, and what he's already doing is going and talking to the huge number, the millions and millions and millions of Texans who are going to vote in the general election that have very little or nothing to do with this may runoff. This may runoff system, Jen, if you remember, is how we wound up with Ted Cruz as a senator who couldn't even get 51% of the vote against Beto O'. Rourke. And so we have an even greater opportunity here to defeat an even more, believe it or not, even more unlikable politician. Look, you just showed the clip. It's hard to tell the full story here on tv. You've got to Google it. It's nuts. Ken Paxton was indicted by a grand jury, investigated by the FBI, impeached by his own party. You know how hard it is to be impeached by your own party nowadays. The guy is such a problem for the Republican establishment that was trying to not have him in because he just repels all different kinds of voters. Voters, basically. If you look up the word swamp in the dictionary, you should see a picture of Ken Paxton.

[Jen Psaki]

Yeah, may. Perhaps we may at some point. Let me ask you about the Trump approach, because after Trump endorsed Paxton, Paxton kind of set his sights on campaigning against Talarico. And he's. We'll see what he says tonight. He's currently speaking. Our team is watching it. But he's workshopping, emasculating names and claiming Talarico is a vegan. He isn't one, by the way. But what does that tell you about this race?

[Congressman Greg Kazar]

They have so little on James Talarico. The guy is training to be a pastor. He's a seminarian. He preaches and talks to us about following the ten Commandments, of which I bet Ken Paxton has broken all 10 of today. And Talarico is building the kind of populist campaign about bringing down people's costs, making sure everyday folks have health care. The kind of campaign that people talk about wanting to bring back for Texas Democrats that I think really has them running scared. The Republicans own polling that they put out to try to keep Trump from endorsing Paxton showed Talarico beating Paxton. If the election were today. The election, of course, isn't today. There's a lot of time between here and November. But if all Paxton has is calling Talarico names. Then I think we have our best shot of my entire adult lifetime to flipping the state of television Texas.

[Jen Psaki]

John Cornyn said so much this morning on FOX News. So there we are. Congressman Greg Kazar.

[Congressman Greg Kazar]

Believe him if you don't believe me.

[Jen Psaki]

There you go. Whomever, either one, thank you again for being here.

[Congressman Greg Kazar]

Thank you.

[Jen Psaki]

Okay, we've got Ali Veli standing by at the big board. I told you we'd come back to him. Because results are still pouring in from across the state of Texas, including in some very important House primaries. We're watching. We've got so much more to get to tonight with right back.

[Narrator/Announcer]

America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress isn't guaranteed.

[Jim Messina]

Today.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom from Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNAT or text Ms. Now to 511-511-Text Ms. Now to 511-511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity theft.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I thought it was safe.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

If that happens, LifeLock gives you a US based restoration agent who will stick by your side from start to finish. Phone calls, filing documentation, preparing insurance claims. Your agent hand handles it all. In fact, we're so confident restoration is guaranteed or your money back. Isn't it nice to have someone like that on your side? Save up to 30% your first [e-mail] special offer terms apply.

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[Jen Psaki]

Okay. We know that Ken Paxton absolutely blew out the race against John Cornyn tonight in that Senate primary and we've been talking about that throughout the show. But there are also several other runoffs on both sides of the aisle in House races and statewide elections. And Ms. Now senior data reporter, our friend Ali Velshi is still with us at the Big Board. Ali, a lot of interesting things. Big, you know, generational race with Christian Menifee and Al Green. But what stuck out to you tonight?

[Ali Velshi]

Yeah, a few things have happened. Let's start with 33, Texas 33, which is in Dallas. This is a very interesting story. Colin Allred had stepped out of his role as a member of Congress in order to run against Ted Cruz in the last senatorial election. He lost that election. That district was taken over by Julie Johnson, who is now the current incumbent. Colin Allred's not in Congress anymore. So this is an incumbent, the former incumbent and the successor to the incumbent running against each other 64% of the vote in District 33, Colin Allred leading by about 10 points. Not enough to call this race in his favor right now. But this is an incumbent versus incumbent race. Very similar situation, slightly different. Let's go to Houston. District 18. This is Christian Menifee. He has been called now as the Victor here with 61% of the vote in about an 11,000 vote lead. He's 38 years old. Al Green's 78 years old. They are both progressives, but this is a little bit generational. Interesting story. Al Green's district was sort of redistricted into a way that it was gonna become a Republican district. So he decided to move over to District 18. Technically speaking, that was more of Menifee's district. Menifee has now won that generational. But they're both progressives, they're both on the side, same side of many issues. There was some argument that Al Green, well, there was some argum that crypto money had played a role in this. It's something that's gonna become bigger and bigger over the course of this election. Crypto and AI and tech money. But the bottom line is in this generational battle, Christian Menefee, the 38 year old progressive, is going to be the candidate going into the election against Al Green, who will be retiring at 78 years old. One of the older Democratic members, particularly progressive Democratic members. So two very interesting close races that we were watching in the Democratic side of the runoffs. In Texas tonight.

[Jen Psaki]

Tonight, Jen Ali Velshi. It's all shaping up what the electorate is going to look like. We got a few more primaries left, including California next week. But thank you, as always, for being there and digging into all the data.

[Ali Velshi]

My pleasure.

[Jen Psaki]

Okay. We have been talking about this growing YOLO caucus in Congress. This group of Republicans that Donald Trump has successfully primaried, or people who decided not to run again but are now basically free. They're living their best lives, free to speak their minds about him and more importantly, vote against things that he wants before they actually leave town. And I have to say, all I have to say is welcome to the YOLO party, John Cornyn, if you want to come, I'm sure they'll welcome you. Senator Cory Booker is standing by to talk about all of it, and he joins me next. Tonight, Texas Senator John Cornyn became the newest member of a small but growing unofficial group of Republicans we're calling the YOLO caucus, as in, you only live once. Republicans like Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Bill Cassidy, Congressman Thomas Massie, they're already members. We've already started to see them push back against some of Trump's biggest priorities. Senator Cassidy just voted with Democrats to advance a resolution calling for an end to Trump's war with Iran. Cassidy and Tillis were also outspoken about killing a $1 billion earmarked in security for Trump's beloved ballroom. They're also pushing to eliminate the Justice Department slush fund for Trump's political allies and supporters. It's a small club, but the YOLO caucus did get a little bigger tonight, or it could with John Cornyn's loss in the Texas Republican primary runoff. And the irony is that one White House official told msNow that Trump backing Ken Paxton was an intentional F you to a stalled Republican Senate. At Republican Senate, Trump desperately needs to make his legislative agenda a real reality. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. There's always so much to ask you about, but let me just start by asking you about this as I'm calling the YOLO caucus. I mean, we've seen what Senators Cassidy and Tillis have done, said and done so far, both said and done. What's your gut feeling on Senator Cornyn, and what do you think together you could do with some of these members who may feel still willing to work with Democrats on some of the agenda items I just mentioned.

[Greg Kazar]

So let's just start with the fact that what President Trump is doing is a moral outrage from his corruption, his crypto schemes, his ballroom, the monuments to his ego, to all the kleptocracy he's doing and many of the incompetent people he's putting in very important places. Now, it's not just a democratic thing that believes that many of us have private conversations with folks who will express their disdain, their outrage in private, but do nothing in public. And so what I'm hoping is gonna happen is what we saw with Senator Cassidy right before we left. I've been leading with a group of Democrats to push every week for a basically for saying no to this Iran war on the floor of the Senate, forcing them to go on the record. And we've been gaining more and more people, and finally we actually won one of those votes, which is gonna force an up or down vote on the war on the Senate floor when we return. And so I'm really hoping that the next liberated person to speak their mind, to tell the truth of what they think about Donald Trump and his hurting of the American people, especially with this war, is going to be John Cornyn.

[Jen Psaki]

Let's hope he's invited right to the party to do, to do right and do good here. What about the slush? I mean, there's a bipartisan proposal in the House. I know there are senators who've expressed concern about, about it. What about the slush fund? I know you're vehemently against it. Do you think there's any will there?

[Greg Kazar]

Yeah, look, you're seeing more and more outrage around it, more strength. But the fact still remains, we know five years from now, 10 years from now, when people look back at the most corrupt president in American history that torched our democracy and did outrageous things, the question is going to be who were the people so completely implicit that they allowed these things to happen? And Republicans know they're going to be held accountable. They're going to be on the record. So I'm starting to see more people. As Donald Trump continues to strain our democracy and push every sense of decency. I'm starting to see some wobbly knees amongst Republicans who for too long have been doing that advanced form of yoga and bending over backwards, contorting themselves to do what Donald Trump wants. We're starting to see weakening in that. And with John Cornyn now a free man, I hope, hope. I think we're gonna see a lot of changes in the Senate, hopefully more people that will stand with us when we call out these outrages.

[Jen Psaki]

Senator Cornyn, if you're out there, Senator Booker is gonna take your call. Let me ask you about the anti corruption Message. We have talked about so many topics and issues and you're involved in so many of them across the board. And you kind of led there with the corruption in the Trump administration. It is so outrageous to so many people and it has become a really resonant, dominant message in so many ra across the country. Why do you think that is and, and how do you expect that issue to resonate in places like Texas where we're talking about the Senate race tonight?

[Greg Kazar]

Well, well, American people are clearly hurting. Prices are going up. They're losing their health care because they can't afford it. They can't pay their rent or their mortgage and their prescription drugs and their child care. And then they look up and they see the President of the United States grifting, not government governing, but being the biggest kleptocrat we have ever seen. And it is deeply, penetratingly offensive that this president, at a time when so many Americans are hurting, is concerned about his ballroom and asking taxpayers to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on it or this marble arch that he's asking taxpayers to pay for or even his foreign policy. So again, this is an offense to the average voter and I think that's one of the reasons why it's a principal concern. But Jen, I want to, to tell you this president is an accelerant and extreme version, but we have normalized corruption from the Supreme Court that is takes unlimited gifts from billionaires who have interest in matters to even Congress itself where people are trading stocks and this corporate cash flowing in. It's why I don't take corporate money. I don't take issue area pac. And I'm trying to say that we need to get rid of corruption from all three branches that has been so normalized that Donald Trump is so taking it advantage of.

[Jen Psaki]

Yeah, he, he's the maximum version. But it can be, there's a lot can be done in a lot of places. To your point, let me ask you about some good news because we all need some good news right in the world. I mean we today we got two important pieces of news related to Republicans redistricting efforts in South Carolina. The state Senate killed Republicans redistricting plans and a federal court ruled the new map in Alabama was tainted by intentional race based discrimination. What I know we can't be too rosy here. There are a lot of fights to be had. But what was your reaction to those two new developments and where do you think all of that stands right now?

[Greg Kazar]

Well, my reaction is simply thank God, we actually are winning a lot of court cases. The Republicans are trying things all over the country and more often than not, we're winning. The fact is we are still seeing the Supreme Court do things that are eviscerating, in this case, African American representation. But the fight isn't over. I talked to Representative Clyburn in South Carolina today, one of our great national leaders who just said, hey, not only did we win in the battle of the at least this round of the battle, but what most important thing that he noted that I hope everybody listens to is that they are setting records that have never seen before, even in presidential elections, for early vote turnout, that Americans are aware of what's going on, they're angered by it, and most importantly, they're activated to go out, out and vote. Because at the end of the day, the court cases, we're winning more than not, but we're still losing. The big way to stop all of this is to have a massive voter turnout to regain control from Donald Trump of Congress and begin to not only hold him accountable, but begin to pass laws that end this corrupt nightmare that we're all living in.

[Jen Psaki]

Senator Cory Booker, thank you. As always. We have to take a very. Oh, go ahead.

[Greg Kazar]

I just want to say Delaney hall in Newark, New Jersey, which we didn't mention. It is a private prison outrage. It should not exist. It should close down. Another United States senator was attacked first. We saw it with Alex Padilla thrown down, put in cuffs. And what happened to Andy Kim should ignite the outrage of everyone. And I'm sorry that private prison in our community should be closed down.

[Jen Psaki]

We'll come back and we'll talk more about it. Senator Cory Booker, thank you. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on BlueSky, Instagram and TikTok.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity theft.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I thought it was safe.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

If that happens, LifeLock gives you a US based restoration agent who will stick by your side from start to finish. Phone calls, filing documentation, patient preparing, insurance claims. Your agent handles it all. In fact, we're so confident restoration is guaranteed or your money back. Isn't it nice to have someone like that on your side? Save up to 30% your first year at LifeLock. Com specialoffer terms apply.